Daily Truth Bible Study Acts 3:1-26

The text for today is Acts 3: 1 – 26 Let’s begin the study…

Peter and John walk to the temple at the ninth hour. They see a lame man known by everyone in the community from the time of his birth. The man was waiting to ask for money from those going to and from the temple. Peter and John stopped and got the man’s attention. The man believed that he would receive a donation from them but Peter and John did something entirely unexpected. Peter told him that he had no money to give and commanded him to get up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ.

Watch carefully what the scripture says next. Peter takes the man by the hand and helps lift him up. Once the man begins to rise up (the man was probably unsure of exactly what was happening) the man’s feet and ankles ‘receive strength’ and the man stands up on his own! Peter (whether John actually helped or watched we do not know) took an active part in helping the man. The man wanted money but Christ used Peter to deliver much more.

The thought here is that the man probably did not get up immediately when Peter commanded him since Peter helps the man up by taking his hand. The man had been lame his entire life. And now Peter is telling him to get up? The man does respond by getting up however (whether the man was hesitant or not, we do not know).

The man wanted change (coins) and Peter gave him an entire change of life by being obedient to the command given by Jesus. Watch this. The story does not end here. Peter used this occasion as a credibility builder to tell the story of Jesus. The idea is not that Jesus came to make everyone’s life better temporarily. He did not. He came to redeem humanity unto God. Peter goes on to testify about how the same God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (a source of pride for the Jews) brought them Jesus and that they had sent Him to be killed in preference of a robber! Peter did not dumb down the message to fit the itching ears of the crowd. Peter laid it on the line. He made the hearers aware of their guilt and God’s solution to their problem in Jesus Christ. Next, Peter calls them to repent and be converted so their sins could be blotted out and times of refreshing could come from the presence of the Lord.

The issue at hand then is still at hand today. Jesus did not come to be an accessory in the life of self-important people. He came to save the lost. Peter did not entertain and offer pop-psychology rhetoric. He delivered a message of truth directly to those who needed to hear.

Peter got into the middle of the situation at hand. He served actively and delivered a message truthfully and responsibly. We should behave in the same way…